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News and Information
- April 2003
This page
will be updated as additional information becomes available.
STATEMENT OF DISTRICT ATTORNEY DANIEL F. CONLEY
ON THE FINDINGS OF THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE APRIL 8, 2003 DOUBLE
FATAL SHOOTING AT MGH
BOSTON, June 26, 2003 - On the morning of Tuesday, April 8, several
employees were present in and around the cardiac arrhythmia services/pulmonary
catheter laboratory in the Gray-Bigelow Building at Massachusetts
General Hospital. Among the rooms in this lab are a reception area,
workstations, examination rooms, and the office of Dr. Brian McGovern,
a 47-year-old Boxford resident.
Colleen Mitchell, a 51-year-old Beacon Hill resident who worked
in the unit as a secretary/receptionist, is believed to have entered
Dr. McGovern's office sometime around 10 a.m.
At 10:08 a.m. several employees in the cardiac arrhythmia unit
heard several gunshots from inside Dr. McGovern's office. Within
seconds, three employees rushed to the closed door of Dr. McGovern's
office. They decided to open the door and upon doing so, saw Dr.
McGovern on the floor to their right. To their left, against the
wall, they saw Colleen Mitchell, 51, of Beacon Hill. Both had suffered
gunshot wounds. By Colleen Mitchell's hand was a handgun, later
determined to have been a .38 caliber revolver.
Within moments emergency personnel from MGH, EMS, Boston Police,
and State Police responded to the office. The victims were rushed
to the hospital's emergency room, where they were pronounced dead
approximately a half hour later.
The investigation determined that Colleen Mitchell fatally shot
Dr. McGovern and then fatally shot herself. An autopsy by the state
medical examiner determined that Dr. McGovern suffered four gunshot
wounds to his chest, head, neck, and right hand. Colleen Mitchell
suffered a single gunshot wound to her head.
The investigation further determined that Colleen Mitchell purchased
the .38 caliber 5-shot Taurus revolver in December of 2000 at a
pawnshop in Hampton, Virginia. According to Virginia laws, a driver's
license was required to purchase the gun, and Mitchell purchased
the gun legally. However, she did not have a license to carry the
gun in Massachusetts.
Police executed a search warrant at Mitchell's apartment on Champney
Place. Recovered during that search were 40 rounds of .38 caliber
ammunition. That ammunition was the same brand and caliber as the
bullets fired from the revolver. Also found were a gun cleaning
kit, personal papers, one prescription bottle bearing her name for
Wellbutrin, and another prescription bottle bearing her name for
Zoloft.
Shortly after the shootings, some media outlets reported an unsourced
rumor that Dr. McGovern may have caught Mitchell stealing drugs
from the hospital and confronted her. Based on the evidence and
information we have collected, there is nothing to support that
theory.
There was also considerable speculation that Dr. McGovern and Colleen
Mitchell may have had a personal relationship. I can tell you that
the investigation by this office and Boston police collected a great
deal of professional and personal information about Dr. McGovern
and Colleen Mitchell, and there is absolutely nothing that suggests
that there was a personal relationship between the two.
We do not conclusively know the motive for the shootings, and we
never may. Those of us who investigate homicides, and those of you
who cover them, know that you often cannot attribute a sensible
motive to such a senseless act of violence. But I can tell you that
based on everything we know, Dr. McGovern was a highly-respected
physician, a good husband, and a caring father.
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